By Katherine Hobson

Linking Financial and Physical Health: New research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests higher foreclosure rates are associated with increased ER visits and hospitalizations for hypertension, diabetes and anxiety among 20- to 49-year-olds in several states, the WSJ reports. It’s unclear whether foreclosure itself is responsible for an increase in stress-related health problems or whether the underlying problem is financial duress or something else, the paper says.

Tracking Implants: An FDA advisory panel continues to meet today to figure out how better to conduct safety studies of silicone breast implants, WebMD reports. Companies making the implants had planned to follow 82,000 women with the implants for a decade, but Johnson & Johnson’s Mentor has lost track of 79% of the women it planned to follow while Allergan has lost about 40%, WebMD says.

Building a Better Backpack: Backpack makers are consulting chiropractors and occupational therapists to design packs that won’t strain kids’ backs, the WSJ reports. U.S. kids and adults sustained 27,900 backpack-related injuries last year, and while most aches and pains resolve on their own, repeating the same straining movements can in some cases lead to nerve damage, a chiropractor tells the paper.

Newborn Mortality: A new study published in PLoS Medicine finds that deaths among babies less than four weeks old in 193 countries declined to 3.3 million from 4.6 million between 1990 and 2009, and that the U.S. hasn’t made as much progress as other countries, the Associated Press reports. Forty countries now have better newborn death rates than the U.S., including Malaysia, Cuba and Poland, the AP reports.